Geoff McKonly

Geoff McKonly began working with wood in the way he’s always approached education—unconventionally. His work reflects a personal history of self-taught skills. He first explored woodworking 30 years ago, while preparing for his senior show in art school. No store sold the picture frames he envisioned for his photographs, so with basic tools and no previous skills, he set out to make them. Envisioning and making things that don’t yet exist soon became his driving passion.

Through photography, Geoff learned about light, framing, subject, and how to truly see what one is looking at, though ultimately, he decided that he didn’t enjoy being behind the lens or doing photography as a business. He continued working with wood, and having been a sailor since childhood, he became interested in wooden boats and the way they married grace of form and hardcore engineering. He and a friend decided to launch a boatbuilding school that provided experiential education to kids from underperforming schools and offered classes to adults interested in the craft. In additional to building boats he worked in historical restoration and taught courses up and down the Eastern Seaboard. It was through building boats that Geoff developed more skill with woodworking and became interested in craft traditions and the use of hand tools. He developed a skillful eye from shaping curves into fair lines. He began to understand how to fit complicated shapes into irregular spots. And he became comfortable using hand tools to shape a piece with a constantly changing bevel. The discipline necessary to build wooden boats was a sturdy foundation that Geoff relied on when he began to build furniture 10 years ago.

Building furniture has felt right for Geoff. The practical aspect of creating something functional or comfortable and beautiful to look at makes sense in a way that is bigger than past ventures. In furniture, Geoff has been able to synthesize his talents, skills, and interests and to push himself to innovate in design and to build with intention and complexity. He is more comfortable with the material and enjoys highlighting natural defects and composing with the grain. Geoff has developed a distinct, recognizable style that makes use of his years of exploration in the arts and crafts.

I have been a woodworker for 25 years and a furniture maker for 10. I have a BFA in fine art photography and built wooden boats for many years. In building furniture, I blend the artistic discipline of photography with the functionality and engineering learned through building boats. My embrace of traditional craft techniques reflects a commitment to exploring and integrating historical and cultural practices, traditional joinery, and reliance on hand tools.

I see a piece of wood furniture as a three-dimensional canvas created from a living material. My role is to draw the viewer into the piece, guiding their eye through it and encouraging them to discover new points of engagement with it over time. Each decision I make in design and construction strives for balance and connection. Balance is the thickness of the back as it blends into the thinness of a leg and the carved handle that blends into the edge of a curved door. Connection comes through elements such as defects in the material, reminiscent of both luxury and nature, and the joinery gives a piece strength and the durability, enabling it to be passed down through many generations.